The Laundry Piles

A while ago Fabrice Doucet posted a photo of a mystery object on Facebook. He told everyone it was at the lavoir (former public laundry on the river, now our very popular guinguette) but asked if we knew what it was. Nobody did, so he supplied the very interesting answer, along with some extra images.

Image courtesy of Fabrice Doucet and the Departmental Archives of Indre et Loire.

The lavoir was constructed partially in the river, to provide the best access to the water. The posts supporting the roof were inserted into metal piles that screwed into the river bed, allowing a firm construction on the shifting and muddy ground. Each screw has a box at the top that a square oak post sits in. Nowadays the modern pontoon verandah terrace seating area of the guinguette obscures the piles to a large extent.

Image courtesy of Fabrice Doucet and the Departmental Archives of Indre et Loire.

The lavoir was a gift to the town by local benefactors Francois Chaumont and his wife Louise Patin, who also have one of the main streets in town named after them. The piles are still doing their job admirably, after 130 years. As Fabrice pointed out to me later, they are much the same age as the Eiffel Tower.